Canadian Government Orders Surveillance
of Public Transportation For Swine Flu

The Canadian government is asking plane, train, ferry and bus operators
to be vigilant against the swine flu and allow ill passengers to
rebook trips in order to help contain the pandemic.

"To encourage people to stay home if they are sick, we are
asking travel companies, airlines, bus lines and others who operate
public transportation to allow Canadians to easily rebook their
travel plans if they get ill," Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq
told a press conference.

The advice is contained in newly released "guidelines on
infection prevention and management from public transportation,"
she said.

Aglukkaq also urged transportation firms to offer staff and passengers
hand-washing facilities and regularly clean common surfaces in
vehicles.

"Passengers on train, planes, ferries and intercity buses
need to feel confident that measures have been taken to prevent
and control the spread of infection," she said.

"Crews onboard planes, trains, ferries and buses should
take precautions to avoid themselves becoming infected with H1N1,"
such as limiting contact with ill passengers, said David Butler-Jones,
Canada's chief public health officer.

"If you are sick and can't avoid or delay travel, you might
want to consider traveling by car," he added.

A preteen girl who died in an Ottawa hospital on Saturday is
believed (not confirmed) to be the first Canadian fatality in
the second wave of the pandemic now sweeping the country.

The largest immunization program in Canadian history, against
the A(H1N1) virus, kicked off on Monday with the arepanrix
vaccine.

By week's end, some six million A(H1N1) vaccine doses will have
been shipped nationwide to help stem the spread of the virus,
said health officials.